In Five Years

In the first week of October, Bella has her surgery. Both of her parents (Jill and Frederick) are there, which is very rare. Bella is obviously frustrated with Dannie’s desire to micromanage everything about her treatment. Dr. Shaw pulls Dannie aside and tells her more details about the surgery and mentions that she is listed as Bella’s next of kin. David offers to come to the hospital, but Dannie tells him to stay at work. She is working remotely from the hospital that day. She and Aaron exchange dark, morbid jokes and then go for a walk when their laughter gets disapproving looks.

Aaron takes Dannie down the street to the rooftop terrace of a building he’s working on. They talk about Bella and what Aaron loves about her. The hospital calls to tell Dannie that the surgery is going as expected. When they return to the hospital, David is there with Dannie’s favorite bagel, the one she gets for herself after (and sometimes before) big victories. It makes her sad. Dannie works until Dr. Shaw comes out and says the surgery went well. Bella is allowed one visitor, so Dannie tells Aaron to go. He says it should be Dannie instead, but she insists that he’s the one Bella will want to see.

Bella is released from the hospital to recover at home. She has a private nurse, Aaron is there all of the time, and Dannie comes in the morning and night hours when she’s not working. They lie together in Bella’s bed and watch an old TV show they loved. Bella’s apartment is colorful and full of art, unlike Dannie’s more simple, neutral décor. Dannie gets a text from Aldridge, the managing partner, who asks to see her in his office at 9:00 a.m. on Monday. Aaron comes back with groceries, and Dannie leaves so he and Bella can have dinner together.

At the meeting, Dannie apologizes for her distraction and tells Aldridge that her best friend has ovarian cancer. Aldridge says that he didn’t call her in to reprimand her but to say he’s been impressed with her work. He asks her to be the key associate on a big new case with him as the partner. Aldridge tells her that she should find a balance between her ambition and her life. He maintains 80-hour workweeks, but he makes sure to leave himself time to live a life with his husband and family. In an unusually good mood, Dannie leaves work early to buy some new lingerie, pick up David’s favorite food for dinner, and spend time with him. She uses the new lingerie to seduce him. Immediately before they start having sex, he asks when they’re getting married. During sex, Dannie realizes that there’s distance between them and that there is something she’s been refusing to admit even to herself for almost five years.